My Diet : ~1800 calories

Hey, so I'm on a new quest since February 21, 2012.
So far I lost ~40 pounds and I'm feeling great but the thing is everyone is telling that I should "UP" my calories.
Today I hate ~1800 calories and was able to do a full workout 20 minutes ago.
I feel that I just ate the right thing and I'm never,NEVER hungry when I eat at the right time.

Your diet is woefully deficient in calories and fat, among other things. The best insight you can gain is from the stickies. Calculate your TDEE, subtract 500-1000 calories from it, and create a sane macronutrient split (i.e. 40% p/ 40% c/ 20% f). You're going to do damage by following that dieting model for a sustained period of time.

Edit: If you're under the impression that it's better to eat 6 meals a day, then you're misinformed. Meal timing and frequency is largely irrelevant in terms of body composition. The model you're following may lead to satiety issues. Feel free to eat as many (or few) meals as you prefer, at the times you find most convenient.

Congratulations on your weight loss and the decision to make a BIG change in your life, one that will dramatically improve how you live your life.

Are you under the supervision of a health professional such as an MD or an RD?

If not you can do some research that will help you to enhance your diet, but right now weight loss is paramount and 1800-2000 kcals will certainly do the trick. If you wanted to up your intake some you could do so and you'll still loose weight.

Keep up the exercise, in your situation view the exercise you are doing as metabolic conditioning, it'll help your system greatly, particularly if you are insulin resistant.

Keep up the good work, study up and make sure you are getting enough micro nutrients, which it does appear you are, and above all hang in there.

Do you plan to engage in resistance training when you loose more weight? If not I suggest you do so, but you have a ways to go before having to worry about that imo.

Congratulations on your weight loss and the decision to make a BIG change in your life, one that will dramatically improve how you live your life.

Are you under the supervision of a health professional such as an MD or an RD?

If not you can do some research that will help you to enhance your diet, but right now weight loss is paramount and 1800-2000 kcals will certainly do the trick. If you wanted to up your intake some you could do so and you'll still loose weight.

Keep up the exercise, in your situation view the exercise you are doing as metabolic conditioning, it'll help your system greatly, particularly if you are insulin resistant.

Keep up the good work, study up and make sure you are getting enough micro nutrients, which it does appear you are, and above all hang in there.

Do you plan to engage in resistance training when you loose more weight? If not I suggest you do so, but you have a ways to go before having to worry about that imo.

Keep us informed!

Thanks! My plan right now is to lose another 20-30 pounds this summer by mostly doing low fat/high carb diet with golf and mountain biking then for the winter I plan on going to a gym where I can do more cardio with weights and be followed by a professional I still have a long way to go to reach my goal but hey I'm here for the long run!

Originally Posted by chillaxbroseph

Your diet is woefully deficient in calories and fat, among other things. The best insight you can gain is from the stickies. Calculate your TDEE, subtract 500-1000 calories from it, and create a sane macronutrient split (i.e. 40% p/ 40% c/ 20% f). You're going to do damage by following that dieting model for a sustained period of time.

Edit: If you're under the impression that it's better to eat 6 meals a day, then you're misinformed. Meal timing and frequency is largely irrelevant in terms of body composition. The model you're following may lead to satiety issues. Feel free to eat as many (or few) meals as you prefer, at the times you find most convenient.

Ok, I'll try to up my fat/protein intake
Are Protein shake a good option for me ?
What is a GOOD kind of fatty food that you recommend ?

Thanks! My plan right now is to lose another 20-30 pounds this summer by mostly doing low fat/high carb diet with golf and mountain biking then for the winter I plan on going to a gym where I can do more cardio with weights and be followed by a professional I still have a long way to go to reach my goal but hey I'm here for the long run!

Your fat intake is a bit low but I am not worried about that right now as much as you having a diet that you can continue while feeling satiated. (Add salad dressings that contain oil such as olive oil)

Your protein intake appears to be around 100 grams which is pretty close to what you need. You certainly can increase that but if you plan to stay in the 2000 cal range you would have to give up something. For health purposes you are not far away from your minimum for protein intake, try to get at least 120 grams.

In the meantime you can begin to study up, gaining the knowledge you will need to compose a more varied and sufficient diet that will be with you from now on. A diet that consists of foods you enjoy while helping you to maintain your weight loss. Here is a link to the first two stickies you can study but don't stop there, the availability of information is great.

Your fat intake is a bit low but I am not worried about that right now as much as you having a diet that you can continue while feeling satiated. (Add salad dressings that contain oil such as olive oil)

Your protein intake appears to be around 100 grams which is pretty close to what you need. You certainly can increase that but if you plan to stay in the 2000 cal range you would have to give up something. For health purposes you are not far away from your minimum for protein intake, try to get at least 120 grams.

In the meantime you can begin to study up, gaining the knowledge you will need to compose a more varied and sufficient diet that will be with you from now on. A diet that consists of foods you enjoy while helping you to maintain your weight loss. Here is a link to the first two stickies you can study but don't stop there, the availability of information is great.

Hey, so I'm on a new quest since February 21, 2012.
So far I lost ~40 pounds and I'm feeling great but the thing is everyone is telling that I should "UP" my calories.
Today I hate ~1800 calories and was able to do a full workout 20 minutes ago.
I feel that I just ate the right thing and I'm never,NEVER hungry when I eat at the right time.

Congrats on the weight loss man! As others have stated, I would definitely up your fat intake. If you find it difficult to up it dramatically at once then just ease into it, but you should probably double what ur intake is now.

Congrats on the weight loss man! As others have stated, I would definitely up your fat intake. If you find it difficult to up it dramatically at once then just ease into it, but you should probably double what ur intake is now.

Thanks for the support! and yeah I'm kind of scared to go back to "fatty" food and fall of the wagon but I'll try to ease into it thanks again

A few things you should know (please read the stickies as priority #1):

1. Dietary fat will not make you fat, only eating more calories than you burn will make you fat (regardless of whether they're from protein, carbs or fat).

2. Keeping #1 in mind, limiting your fat intake to 20-30 grams whilst on an intake of 1800-2000 calories a day will see you lose no more fat than eating 40-60 grams fat whilst on an intake or 1800-2000 calories a day.

3. Keeping #2 in mind, the only thing that limiting your fat so much will do is create a deficiency that will likely have negative impacts on normal hormonal production/balance.

4. Keeping #4 in mind:

*Calculate your TDEE using the stickies. At your bodyfat levels I think you could safely eat a deficit of 20% (TDEE - [TDEE x 0.2]).

I've been where you are mate, and probably the biggest challenge is reprogramming yourself with the right knowledge and overcoming old fears and paranoia by reinforcing to yourself that you're following sound advice.

I hope this all helps, good luck and keep up the great work buddy!

P.S. At your height I suspect you can eat more than 1800 cals and still maintain a decent deficit (assuming you're not sedentary which is doesn't sound like you are), but just start with the stickie calculations and see what they come up with.

OP says he's not lifting at the moment so i would say 100-120g of protein would be adequate, no?
fat needs to be 100 grams at least, imo.

OP, in my humble, slightly educated opinion, fat is the macro you need to concern yourself the most with right now as you aren't lifting and have been eating a diet severely deficient in dietary fat for a decent amount of time.

OP says he's not lifting at the moment so i would say 100-120g of protein would be adequate, no?
fat needs to be 100 grams at least, imo.

OP, in my humble, slightly educated opinion, fat is the macro you need to concern yourself the most with right now as you aren't lifting and have been eating a diet severely deficient in dietary fat for a decent amount of time.

you could also eat 2700 cals a day and still see good results.

stay with it, its a marathon, not a spring brah.

Thanks for the support and advice!

Today was my real first day with this new diet I had a lobster dinner yesterday with co-workers and ate a little bit too much (~2500 Calories whole day).

Anyway this is what it looks like today

2,104 Calories
73.8 Fat
216.8 Carbs
141.3 Protein

Pretty good stuff to eggs,subway,steak and shrimp and I bet i'll feel better after my jogging this afternoon.

Keep it up Pulse, remember your needs are a bit different, the stickies will better fit your needs when your body fat percentage decreases significantly. As I stated the day you started this thread, weight loss right now is paramount and that is dependent on a diet you will stick with. The macros you posted just above look pretty good to me, just keep it close and give it time. It's cliche but you didn't gain it overnight and won't loose it overnight, but you already know that!! Keep us updated!!

Today was my real first day with this new diet I had a lobster dinner yesterday with co-workers and ate a little bit too much (~2500 Calories whole day).

Anyway this is what it looks like today

2,104 Calories
73.8 Fat
216.8 Carbs
141.3 Protein

Pretty good stuff to eggs,subway,steak and shrimp and I bet i'll feel better after my jogging this afternoon.

Thanks again everyone that helped!

Hey there! Congratulations on deciding to get healthy, and great work so far. I just wanted to chime in with a couple things that I think would help you, since I *was* you about 6 months ago... same exact weight and the exact calorie # (we were the same size, although I'm an inch taller.)

I think the macronutrients you've presented will get you quite a bit further in your journey, but I would caution you to consider dropping even more carbs for protein. Your goals right now aren't to build muscle, they are to lose fat... and frankly, carbs are about the last thing you need to be eating right now. Fats will help your satiety and hormones tremendously, and protein is muscle sparing, carries a higher thermic effect, and keeps you much more full. I've dieted down 100lbs off of my body twice in my life now (unfortunately), and I can tell you that minimizing carbs and upping protein was the best decision I've ever made in dieting. Not only was my satiety and dietary compliance much better this time around, my muscle retention was night and day. I am much more muscular and much stronger than I was last time I did this. Think about it!! Ultimately, I think you'll do just fine whichever way you choose. Good luck!!